(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. Eighteen sixty was a year of mixed feelings of hope and fear. Americans had hope for the future, because they would be electing a new president. But they had fear that even a new president could not hold the nation together. The states of the South were very close to leaving the Union over the issue of slavery. This week in our series, Tony Riggs and Frank Oliver talk about the candidates and the issues in the election of eighteen sixty.
After four years as president, James Buchanan decided not to run again. Buchanan was a Democrat. His party, like the nation, was split over slavery. Southern Democrats wanted the party to support slavery. Northern Democrats refused. The opposition Republican Party expected to gain votes from dissatisfied Democrats. Republicans had become stronger since the last presidential election in eighteen fifty-six. They felt their candidate would win in eighteen sixty. The Democratic nominating convention opened in April in Charleston, South Carolina. Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois was the leading candidate. He had the support of a majority of convention delegates. But he did not have the two-thirds majority needed to win the nomination. Many Southern Democrats did not like Stephen Douglas. Some did not trust him. Others did not accept his policies on slavery. Douglas did not oppose slavery or the spread of slavery. However, he said no federal law could make slavery legal in a territory where the people did not want it. This was his policy of "popular sovereignty."
The Southern Democrats who opposed Stephen Douglas were led by William Yancey of Alabama. Yancey wanted to get a pro-slavery statement into the party's platform. He was sure Douglas would not accept the nomination based on such a platform. If Yancey failed to get the statement he wanted, he would take Southern Democrats out of the convention. And out of the party. The committee on resolutions considered three platforms. One platform declared that the people of a territory had the right to decide if slavery would be legal or illegal. The second declared that the Supreme Court had that right. And the third declared that no one did -- that slavery was legal everywhere. William Yancey spoke to the convention in support of the pro-slavery platform. He said pro-slavery Democrats did not want to destroy the union. But he said someone had to make clear to anti-slavery Democrats that the union would be dissolved if the constitutional rights of slave owners were not honored. Yancey spoke of the danger of a great slave rebellion. He described it as a sleeping volcano that threatened the lives, property, and honor of the people of the South. He said the actions of the North might cause that volcano to explode.
Another convention delegate answered Yancey's speech. He said Northern Democrats were tired of defending the interests of the South. "Now," he said, "Yancey tells us we must agree that slavery is right. He orders us to hide our faces and eat dirt. Gentlemen of the South," he said, "you mistake us. We will not do it!" In this atmosphere of tension, it was clear that a pro-slavery platform would not be approved. The Alabama delegation announced that, therefore, it must withdraw. The delegations from the other six states of the Deep South -- Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas -- did the same. Those fifty men organized their own convention. They approved a pro-slavery platform, but did not nominate anyone for president. They agreed to meet again a few weeks later in Richmond, Virginia. The Northern Democrats postponed their nomination, too. They agreed to meet again in Baltimore, Maryland. The Republican Party held its presidential nominating convention in Chicago, Illinois. There was no question who was the leading candidate. He was the best-known Republican in the country at that time: Senator William Seward of New York. The Republican platform seemed to contain something for everyone.
For those opposed to slavery, the platform rejected the idea that slave owners had a constitutional right to take slaves into new territories. For foreign-born Americans, it supported their right to full citizenship. For manufacturers, it proposed a new tax on imports to protect American industry. And for those in the northwest, it called for free land for settlers, and federal aid to build roads and canals. Delegates approved the platform with loud cheers. They would return the next day to nominate their candidate for president. William Seward was sure he would win the nomination. If not on the first vote, he thought, then on the second. But there was some opposition to Seward. And his campaign organization failed to see its strength. The candidate of the opposition was Abraham Lincoln. The Republican convention voted three times. Lincoln gained support on each ballot. But neither he nor Seward received enough votes for the nomination. Then, before a fourth vote could be taken, a delegate from Ohio asked to speak. The big room became silent. "Mister chairman," he said, "I rise to announce the change of four votes of Ohio to Mister Lincoln." That was enough to give Abraham Lincoln the Republican nomination for president.
One month later, the Democrats re-opened their nominating convention. Most of the Southern Democrats who walked out of the first meeting came back. Many of their seats at the convention had been given to new delegates. So a new dispute arose over which delegates had the right to be there. A compromise plan split the seats between old and new delegates. But most of the Southerners rejected it. One by one, a majority of each Southern delegation walked out. The remaining Democrats then voted for a candidate. They chose Stephen Douglas. Southern Democrats nominated their own candidate, John Breckinridge of Kentucky. And a group called the Constitutional Union Party nominated John Bell. The election campaign opened in the summer of eighteen sixty. Lincoln was not well-known. So the Republican Party published many books and pamphlets about him. They told the story of a poor farm boy who educated himself and, through hard work and honesty, had become a candidate for president. Lincoln's supporters organized a loud and colorful campaign, complete with marching bands and signs. Lincoln himself was silent. He said, "It has been my decision since becoming a candidate to make no speeches. I am here only to see you and to let you see me. " In fact, it was Lincoln's assistants who had advised him to say nothing. They believed he had said enough in the past to make clear his position on the important issues.
Stephen Douglas, on the other hand, campaigned very hard. His health was poor. And he had trouble getting money. But that did not stop him from speaking in almost every state. Within a few weeks, however, Douglas recognized that he had no real hope of winning. His position on slavery had cost him all support in the South. Douglas believed that, of the other candidates, Abraham Lincoln had the best chance of winning the presidential election. He also believed pro-slavery extremists would use Lincoln's election as an excuse to take Southern states out of the union. So he turned his efforts to a campaign for the union itself. He said, "The election of a man to the presidency by the American people, under the Constitution, is no reason for any attempt to dissolve this glorious nation." Election day was November sixth. The popular vote was close between Lincoln and Douglas. But the electoral vote was not. Lincoln received one hundred eighty. Breckinridge received seventy-two. Bell received thirty-nine. And Douglas received just twelve. Abraham Lincoln would be the new president of the United States. He would enter office facing the most serious crisis in American history. For, before his inauguration, southern states finally acted on their threats. They began to leave the union. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.expect to 期望；预期
You cannot expect to like all the people you will work with.
不要指望你会喜欢所有和你共事的人。
2.be tired of 厌烦；厌倦
I know that you must be tired of this excuse.
我知道你一定厌烦了这个借口。
3.complete with 包括；配有
The shavers come complete with batteries.
这些剃须刀都已经配好了电池。
4.one by one 一个接一个；一个接一个地
The students entered the classroom one by one.
学生们一个挨一个地走进教室。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。1860年是充满希望和恐惧的一年。美国人对未来抱有希望，因为他们将选举一位新总统。但他们担心，即使是新总统也无法使国家团结起来。南方各州因为奴隶制问题，很快就要脱离联邦。在本周的系列节目中，托尼·里格斯和弗兰克·奥利弗将讨论1860年选举中的候选人和面临的问题。
在担任总统四年后，詹姆斯·布坎南决定不再参加连任竞选。布坎南是民主党人，他的政党如同美国民众一样，因奴隶制而分裂。南方的民主党人希望该政党支持奴隶制，而北方民主党人则拒绝支持。反对派共和党预计将从心怀不满的民主党人那里获得选票。自1856年上届总统选举以来，共和党人变得更加强大。他们感觉自己政党的候选人会在1860年获胜。民主党提名大会于4月在南卡罗来纳州的查尔斯顿开幕。伊利诺伊州参议员史蒂芬·道格拉斯是主要的候选人，他得到了大多数与会代表的支持。但是，他没有获得赢取提名所需的三分之二的多数票数。许多南方民主党人不喜欢斯蒂芬·道格拉斯。有些人不相信他，其他人则不接受他对奴隶制所奉行的政策。道格拉斯并不反对奴隶制或奴隶制的蔓延。然而，他说，在人民不想实施奴隶制的地区，联邦法律不能使奴隶制合法化。这就是他的“人民主权”政策。
反对史蒂芬·道格拉斯的南方民主党人由阿拉巴马州的威廉·扬西领导。扬西想在该党的政纲上发表一份支持奴隶制的声明。他确信道格拉斯不会接受基于这样一份政纲的提名。如果扬西没能得到他想要的声明，他将带领南部民主党人离开大会。然后脱离政党。决议委员会审议了三项政纲。一项政纲宣布，一个地区的人民有权决定奴隶制是否合法。第二项政纲宣布，最高法院拥有这项权利。第三项则表示，奴隶制在任何地方都合法，此前没有人这样做过。威廉·扬西在大会上发言，表示支持这份亲奴隶制的政纲。他说，支持奴隶制的民主党人不想破坏联邦。但他表示，必须有人向反奴隶制的民主党人明确表示，如果奴隶主的宪法权利得不到尊重，联邦就将分裂。扬西提到大规模奴隶叛乱的危险，他将其描述成一座沉睡的火山，威胁着南方人民的生命、财产和荣誉。他说，北方的行动可能导致那座火山爆发。
另一位会议代表回应了扬西的发言。他说，北方的民主党人厌倦了捍卫南方的利益。“现在，”他说，“扬西告诉我们，必须承认奴隶制是正确的。他命令我们忍气吞声。南方的先生们，你们搞错了，我们不会那样去做的！”在这种紧张气氛中，显然支持奴隶制的政纲不会得到批准。因此，阿拉巴马州代表团宣布必须将其撤销。来自南方腹地其他六个州的代表团——阿肯色州、佛罗里达州、乔治亚州、路易斯安那州、密西西比州和德克萨斯州——采取了同样的做法。这五十个人组织了自己的会议，他们批准了一项支持奴隶制的政纲，但没有提名任何总统候选人。几周后，他们同意在弗吉尼亚州的里士满再次会面。北方民主党也推迟了他们的提名。他们同意在马里兰州的巴尔的摩再次会面。共和党人在伊利诺伊州的芝加哥举行了总统提名大会。对于主要候选人毫无悬念可言，他就是当时美国最著名的共和党人：纽约州参议员威廉·西沃德。共和党的纲领似乎能让每个人都受益。
对于那些反对奴隶制的人来说，该纲领对奴隶主拥有宪法赋予的权利，可将奴隶带到新领地的观点予以驳斥。对于在外国出生的美国人来说，它支持他们享有完全的公民权。对于制造商来说，它提出一项新的进口税，用以保护美国工业。对于西北部地区的人们，它呼吁为定居者提供免费的土地，并要求联邦政府资助修建道路和运河。代表们在热烈的欢呼声中批准了该纲领。第二天，他们将回来提名总统候选人。威廉·西沃德确信他会赢得提名。他想，如果不是第一轮投票，那就是在第二轮。但对于西沃德，也存在一些反对党势力。他的竞选组织没能看到它的强劲势头。反对党的候选人是亚伯拉罕·林肯。共和党代表大会进行了三次投票。在每次投票中，林肯都获得了代表们的支持。但是，他和西沃德都没有得到足够的选票以获得提名。在第四次投票之前，俄亥俄州的一位代表要求发言。大房间里一片寂静。“主席先生，”他说，“我宣布将俄亥俄州的四票改选林肯先生。”这足以让亚伯拉罕·林肯获得共和党总统候选人的提名。
一个月后，民主党重新召开提名大会。大多数退出第一次会议的南方民主党人又回来了。他们在大会上的许多席位都让给了新代表。因此，出现了一个新的争议，即哪些代表有权出席。 一项折衷方案将新老代表的席位分开，但大多数南方人都拒绝该方案。大多数南方代表团的成员都相继离开。随后，剩下的民主党人投票选举候选人，他们选择了斯蒂芬·道格拉斯。南方民主党人提名了自己的候选人，肯塔基州的约翰·布雷肯里奇。一个叫做宪法联盟党的团体提名了约翰·贝尔。选举活动于1860年夏天开始。那时，林肯并不出名。所以，共和党出版了很多关于他的书籍和小册子。他们讲述了一个贫穷的农场男孩，自学成才，凭借努力工作和诚实的品行，成为总统候选人的故事。林肯的支持者组织了一场声势浩大、精彩纷呈的活动，包括游行乐队和标语。林肯本人沉默了。他说：“自从成为候选人后，我就决定不发表任何讲话。我来这里只是为了见你们，也让你们见我。”事实上，是林肯的助手劝他什么也不要说。他们认为他过去所说的，足以表明他在重要问题上的立场。
另一方面，史蒂芬·道格拉斯的竞选活动非常激烈。他的健康状况很差，也很难筹集到资金。但这并没有阻止他在几乎每个州都发表演说。然而，在几周内，道格拉斯意识到他没有获胜的希望。他在奴隶制问题上的立场，使他在南方失去了所有的支持。道格拉斯认为，在其他候选人中，亚伯拉罕·林肯最有可能赢得总统选举。他还相信，亲奴隶制的极端分子会以林肯选举为借口，把南方各州从联邦中分离出去。因此，他转而为联邦本身开展活动。他说：“根据宪法，由美国人民选举一个人担任总统，不应该是试图解散这个光辉灿烂的国家的理由。”选举日是11月6日，林肯和道格拉斯的普选结果很接近。但选举人投票却不同。林肯获得180票，布雷肯里奇获得72票，贝尔获得39票，道格拉斯只收到12票。亚伯拉罕·林肯将成为美国的新总统。他将在美国历史上面临最严重危机之时入主白宫。因为，在他就职之前，南方各州终于践行了他们威胁要做的事，他们开始离开联邦。这将是我们下周要讲述的故事。
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